This is the Winter 2018 course discussion blog for and by UCLA students enrolled in LGBTQ Studies 183: Queer Arts in LA.
This course includes a creative component. When this course was first offered during the Fall 2012 quarter, the students researched queer artists who have a significant connection to Los Angeles. Then created a collaborative website.

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Friday, February 19, 2016

David Wojnarowicz

Fire in my Belly was one of the most unique films I've ever watched. It was both ambiguous but yet, very telling. Each scene was so beautifully crafted together, never staying on the same frame for too long. The scenes switched back and forth between sometimes horrific events and sometimes more subtle and ambiguous events. It was a representation of all human emotions.
I found some scenes hard to watch, but what he recorded was the reality of the world. The film touches on the reality of many cultural issues such as poverty, greed, man-made destruction and corruption, masculinity, and ultimately silence leading to death. The censorship of his work is just one of many examples where people prefer to be comfortable in their ignorance than shown the darkness of reality.
Silence = Death

David used art to be an activist. Sometimes the most telling story and most emotional reactions come from art. Art is such a powerful form of expression that it often speaks much louder than words. Being homosexual and having AIDS in the 80's was far from easy. People in power positions turned a blind eye to the exponentially rising documented cases of AIDS in the US, with thousands of reported deaths. Some people will look at David and think he was some sort of radical activist because of his unforgiving and relentless struggle in the fight against homophobia and AIDS awareness. But is there such thing as a sound person who is willing to face death with open arms? His art depicted darkness and chaos because that is what he and every other oppressed person felt. It's beautiful and heartbreaking all at once.